


Cool Down

by I May Age Regress (shnuffeluv)



Series: Gibbs' Family [25]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Age Play, Banter, Bathing/Washing, Children's Stories, Fever, Gen, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pancakes, Peter Pan References, Sick Character, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-09 20:12:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12895845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/I%20May%20Age%20Regress
Summary: Gibbs' gut is churning in the middle of the night, and Katie wakes up with a high fever. Gibbs has to act, and fast.





	Cool Down

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the delay on this, guys, this story just did not want to be written. Ah, well, it's here now! After this I'm thinking of working on a Christmas fic, if you all are up for it!

Something was off in the air when Gibbs woke up in the middle of the night. He couldn't pin down what it was, but something seemed _wrong_  and it was causing him to worry about his kids. Throwing on sweatpants and a hoodie to ward off the slight chill in the fall air, Gibbs crept down the hall to the guest room, where two twin beds housed Tony and Katie. But Katie looked paler than usual, and she was shivering.

Gibbs frowned and walked into the room, over to Katie's bed. He put his wrist up to her forehead, and almost immediately brought it back to his chest on reflex. The poor girl was burning up! He tried to shake her gently awake. "Katie...Katie. C'mon, sweetheart, can you open your eyes for me?"

Katie grimaced and opened her eyes a crack, but they were completely glazed over and barely focusing.

Gibbs felt something in his chest settle just a fraction, though he was still concerned. "Hey, there we go, sweetheart. How do you feel?"

Katie blinked but didn't respond. Gibbs' fear kicked into high gear again. "Katie, you can hear me, right?"

"...Yeah?" Katie eventually said. "Why...?"

"I asked you how you felt," Gibbs said softly.

"Oh...not good..." Katie said. "It's all cold and hot at the same time in different places."

"Okay," Gibbs said. "Okay, we're gonna try and fix that, all right? I need to take your temperature, can you come to the bathroom with me so we don't wake up Tony?"

"Mm...kay," Katie said, shakily sitting up before forcing herself to stand and walk with Gibbs out of the room.

Gibbs' heart was hammering in his chest. His gut was churning more than ever as Katie swayed next to him on the way to the bathroom. He kept a hand on her shoulder but it was hard keeping her upright. The second they were in the bathroom he helped Katie sit on the toilet lid and grabbed the thermometer from the medicine cabinet. He stuck it under her armpit and turned it on, murmuring, "Keep that under your arm until it beeps, okay, sweetheart?"

Katie nodded and more or less dozed on the seat, while Gibbs looked her over. Her clothes were damp with sweat, but she was shivering like she was left in the snow without a coat. Her eyes, when open, were glassy, and she refused to stop sniffling. If Gibbs had to guess, he would say that Katie had a really bad case of the flu. But how bad was what he was worried about. Was this going to be solved with some Advil and another blanket on the bed? Or would he have to take her to a doctor tonight? He'd have to wake up Tony, too, and all of them would have to go to the emergency room. Gibbs did _not_  want that.

The thermometer beeped, high and fast, which Gibbs knew meant one thing and one thing only: Katie had a fever. He took out the thermometer and he could have gasped if he didn't need to remain calm for Katie's sake. She had a fever of one-hundred and four-point-three!

Gibbs ran over what he had to do in his mind. Give her Advil to help reduce the fever, run a lukewarm bath to cool her down, fresh pair of clothes and breathable blankets once she was out of the tub and back in bed. Okay. He could do this. "Katie, sweetheart, do you think you could take some Advil for me?" he asked.

Katie looked up at him, groggy and decidedly out of it. She nodded.

Gibbs pulled Advil out of the medicine cabinet, put two in his hand, and passed them to Katie, who easily dry-swallowed them. "All right, you're doing amazing, sweetheart. We need to get you cool before the medicine starts working so it doesn't have to work as hard, though. Do you think you could stand a bath?"

Katie shrugged. "Already...in my...PJ's..."

"We'll get you into a fresh pair when you're done," Gibbs promised. "But we need to get you cool."

Katie nodded, but her eyes slid from Gibbs to something behind him. Gibbs glanced over his shoulder, to see if Tony had maybe followed them, but nothing-and nobody-was there. "Katie? You okay?"

"Something...behind you..." she whispered. "I think it's a monster..."

Okay, delirium only added to Gibbs' worries. He put the plug in the bathtub and started the water, making sure it was at a lukewarm temperature rather than an ice cold one. Katie was still shivering, and Gibbs knew that the water would feel like ice either way to her, but he needed her to start cooling down _now_  and this was the fastest way to do it.

When the tub was just under halfway filled, Gibbs stopped the water and helped Katie strip down before placing her in the water. She yelped as it first touched her skin. "Dad, the water's _freezing_!"

"It's about as warm as the room, sweetheart, I promise it's not that cold. Can you stay in there for just a few minutes?"

Katie whined but stayed still in the bath as Gibbs scooped water and poured it over her head. He hated having to watch her flinch at every drop of water that touched her, but he needed to bring the fever down.

After what felt like an eternity Gibbs caved and told Katie, "You can come out now, sweetheart. I'm so sorry we had to do that."

Katie stepped out of the bath and wrapped herself in a towel, shivering, but less so than before. Gibbs made a motion for her to stay there and quickly went back to the guest room and grabbed some of Katie's old clothes she kept here for sleeping. It was mostly cotton tank tops and yoga pants, but it would have to do.

He rushed back into the bathroom and helped Katie get dressed, before grabbing the thermometer and sticking it in her armpit again. Katie seemed a little more focused when she wasn't half-asleep, so Gibbs was starting to count this as a minor success.

The thermometer still used its "fever" tone but when Gibbs looked at it, thankfully it said 102.9. The Advil had to be kicking in soon and there was no doubt the bath had helped. "Hey, there we go," Gibbs said softly. "Your fever's coming down which means no more baths tonight, and no having to go see a doctor either. That's good, right?"

Katie nodded, yawning. "I wanna go back to bed," she mumbled.

"We'll get you back to bed, sweetheart, I promise. Is it okay if we spend some time downstairs first, though? Just so I can keep tabs on your temperature. If you say no I can just take you back to bed right now, no worries."

"I could go downstairs...but only if you promise to tell me a good story," Katie said.

Gibbs nodded and smiled, standing up and helping Katie do the same. "I'll tell the best story for you if you want me to."

They went downstairs and Gibbs pulled the blanket from the back of the couch, draping it over himself and Katie as they sat down. "So what do you want the story to be?" Gibbs asked.

Kate frowned, deep in thought. "Could it be Peter Pan?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Gibbs said, laughing. He launched into the story, regaling Katie with tales of lost shadows, and little boys who could fly, and Neverland. He talked about mermaids and fairies and pirates until he felt his voice growing hoarse, and he kept talking. Katie was hanging on his every word, even as her eyes started to droop. As Gibbs finished the story, Katie leaned her head on Gibbs' shoulder and sighed, closing her eyes. "Someone's tired, huh?" he asked.

He didn't get a response. So Gibbs gently picked Katie up and carried her up the stairs back to her bed and pulled the sheets and comforter over her. His gut wasn't churning any longer, and with any amount of luck Gibbs could fall back to sleep for a few more hours before Tony woke up and Gibbs had to make breakfast.

Going back to his room, Gibbs collapsed on his bed and was instantly asleep.

* * *

The next time Gibbs woke up, there was sunlight coming through his windows, albeit not much of it. It looked to be just after dawn. Gibbs stretched and felt something pop in his back. He winced but granted that he did feel a bit better after stretching.

He got dressed for the day; since it was a Saturday he just put on a flannel and jeans and figured that would work. But when he got downstairs, he found a certain surrogate daughter already up and reading. "Morning," he said calmly, letting her indicate whether or not she was still feeling younger.

She looked up and offered a brief smile. "Hey, Dad. I'm feeling a bit better today. Like, everything hurts, but I'm not freezing cold or anything, and I haven't seen any more monsters."

Gibbs felt a wave of relief crash into him. "That's good," he said. "Have you been up long?"

"Not really, maybe fifteen minutes," she shrugged. "Insomnia is killer, but at least I felt rested when I woke up this morning."

"That's really good," Gibbs said. And it was. Katie's insomnia was improving, which meant Kate's might soon as well.

"What's for breakfast?" Katie asked. "I'm hungry."

"I was thinking pancakes?" Gibbs offered.

Katie's eyes lit up like it was Christmas. "Sounds great!" she exclaimed.

Gibbs chuckled and went to the kitchen, making sure he had everything he needed for pancake batter. (Thankfully, he did. He did _not_  want to promise pancakes and then not deliver.) Once that was done, he started mixing everything he needed to together. He wanted the pancakes done soon, if for no other reason than because Katie was up. As he was finishing mixing the batter and starting to grease a pan, Katie walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah, sweetheart?" Gibbs asked, turning to look at her fully.

"I was just wondering...did I scare you last night? Because it's pretty hazy, and I only can't remember being sick when I'm, like, half-dead. And I want you to know that I'm okay."

Gibbs smiled and walked over to her, kissing the crown of her head, which was still a little warmer than normal, but not burning up. "I know you're okay. Last night was a bit scary, but you're okay now, and that's what I want to focus on if we have to talk about everything."

Katie nodded, smiling. "Maybe later in the morning Tony and you and I could all play together? I don't know what yet, but I'd like to play a board game or something."

"A board game sounds great," Gibbs said. "But right now I need to make the pancakes. So you could read in here, or you could wait in the living room, but either way I have to focus."

Katie sighed dramatically. "Oh, fine. But I fully intend to cash in on this missed attention," she teased.

"I would expect nothing less from a princess such as yourself. I'm sure you'll grow up to be a magnificent drama queen."

After a playful shove from Katie and a laugh from Gibbs, the pancakes started to be cooked. He had built up a sizable stack on a plat next to the stove when he heard Tony coming down the steps. Gibbs smiled. He hoped Tony didn't get sick, but if he did, it wasn't something anyone could help. And Gibbs would be more than willing to look after him. A sick Tony was a cuddly Tony, and Gibbs didn't mind cuddling Tony in the slightest.

All the batter had been used, and Gibbs had called the kids to the table. As he was serving up breakfast, Tony looked up at him and asked, "Papa, what'd happen if anyone else joined the team, do you think?"

Gibbs laughed. "Well, that's a bit of an out-of-the-blue question, but it depends on who would be joining. Why do you ask?"

"I had a weird dream last night that someone joined, and she was finding out about everyone, and wanted all of us to stop," Tony said with a shrug. "It just made me wonder."

"Well I won't let anyone stop this," Gibbs assured Tony. "They'd have to go through me to get to you, and I have yet to meet someone who can go through me unharmed."

Tony nodded and Katie shared a look with Gibbs, that _Tony is a goofball but he's_ our _goofball_  look. Gibbs finished serving the pancakes, poured syrup where needed, and all three of them started eating breakfast, ready for a lazy Saturday morning in.


End file.
